Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

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Table 6—Standard Field Pieces Used During the Civil War Diameter Length of Weight of Weight of Weight of Weight of Muzzle Range at Designation of Bore Piece * Piece Carriage Projectile Charge Velocity 5o Elevation Chambered (inches) (inches) (pounds) (pounds) (pounds) (pounds) (ft/sec) (yards) U.S. Model 1841–1844 Bronze Smoothbores 6-pounder gun 3.67 60.0 884 900 6.10 1.25 1,439 1,525 No 12-pounder howitzer 4.62 53.0 788 900 8.90 1.00 1,054 1,072 Yes 24-pounder howitzer 5.82 65.0 1,318 1,128 18.40 2.00 1,060 1,322 Yes 12-pounder gun 4.62 78.0 1,757 1,175 12.30 2.50 1,486 1,663 No 32-pounder howitzer 6.40 75.0 1,920 1,175 25.60 2.50 1,100 1,504 Yes 12-pounder mtn howitzer 4.62 32.9 220 180 8.90 .50 650 900 Yes U.S. Model 1857 Bronze Smoothbores 12-pounder Napoleon 4.62 66.0 1,227 1,218 12.30 2.50 1,440 1,619 No Field Rifles, Iron (or Steel) 10-pounder Parrott 3.00 74.0 890 890 9.5 1.0 1,230 1,850 No 3-inch ordnance gun 3.00 69.0 820 900 9.5 1.0 1,215 1,830 No 20-pounder Parrott 3.67 84.0 1,750 1,175 20.0 2.0 1,250 1,900 No * Not including the cascabel (a projecting part behind the breech of muzzleloading cannon). Source: Jac Weller, “The Field Artillery of the Civil War,” pt. 1, Military Collector & Historian 5 (June 1953), p. 30.
The civil war As shown in Table 6, all but three of the standard field pieces were bronze smoothbores. The problems of using rifled cannon were numerous. Proper metals and sufficiently sturdy carriages were needed. The development of the James elongated expanding projectile in 1859 did much to further the use of rifled cannon. The Minié ball (a cone-shaped bullet with a base cavity that expanded when fired, making the projectile fit the rifling in the bore) for small arms furnished the principle that led to this advance in artillery. The bore diameter of the cannon limited the size of a spherical shell, but rifling allowed the use of elongated ammunition, which gave a greater projectile weight for a given caliber. Rifled ammunition could usually be depended upon to hit the ground on its “nose,” which meant that a single mercury fulminate cap could detonate it. Since the single forward-facing cap could be more easily protected during loading and discharge, the danger of a premature explosion within the tube was reduced. 18 Another advance in artillery that permitted faster fire was the friction primer, a mercury fulminate that detonated when a lanyard was pulled. This invention replaced the portfire, the priming and firing device that had been applied to the vent by hand. Although some breechloading artillery weapons were manufactured, their large-scale adoption was delayed until the invention of recoil mechanisms and improved breechblocks. Muzzleloaders were still quicker and easier to reload and reposition for firing. Artillery Organization At the outbreak of the war, a presidential proclamation on 3 May 1861 announced that the Regular Army was to be expanded significantly with a fifth regiment of artillery and with an additional regiment of cavalry and eight of infantry. Congress adopted the proclamation into law on 29 July 1861. 19 The new law used the term batteries for the twelve companies contained in the new artillery regiment and prescribed an organization different from that of the four older regiments. The maximum autho rized strength for the 5th Regiment of Artillery was 1,909 compared to a maximum authorized strength of 1,086 for each of the first four artillery regiments. 20 Because the majority of artillery units in the Union army operated in the field rather than manning coastal defenses, steps were taken to reorganize most of the companies in the first four regiments as field artillery. About half the batteries 18 Message From the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress . . . , 36th Cong., 2d sess., 1860, S. Doc. 1, p. 7; Vardell E. Nesmith, Jr., “The Quiet Paradigm Change” (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1977), pp. 21–22. Mercury fulminate, a crystalline compound Hg(CNO) 2 that when dry explodes upon the slightest vibratory shock, is used as a high explosive. 19 Callan, comp., Military Laws, pp. 473–76; WD GO 16, 4 May 1861; WD GO 48, 31 Jul 1861. The proclamation specified eight infantry regiments, as did the general order issued the following day, but a total of nine regiments was recorded in the list of officers published six weeks later. When Congress met, it sanctioned the nine regiments, but research has failed to reveal the implementing authority for this increase. See John K. Mahon’s “Infantry” draft, in CMH files. 20 Prior to this time, artillery units not organized as light artillery were called companies. Light artillery organizations used the terms battery and company interchangeably. See HQ Army Cir 9, 12 Oct 1883. The 5th Regiment of Artillery is now designated the 5th Air Defense Artillery. 53
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The Organizational History of Field
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Civil War Flag (nonregulation), wit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
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FOREWORD The Organizational History
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used to defend fixed positions. Thi
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CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. THE BEGINN
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Chapter xv Page ABBREVIATIONS AND A
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Chapter xvii Page Sound-ranging equ
Page 21: Field Artillery 1775-2003
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Page 101 and 102: diverging missiOns The Gatling Guns
Page 103 and 104: diverging missiOns of War William C
Page 105 and 106: diverging missiOns high-angle fire
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Page 109 and 110: diverging missiOns Artillery in act
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102 The OrganizaTiOnal hisTOry Of f
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126 THE ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY OF F
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Table 11—Field Artillery Pieces R
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Table 12—Field Artillery Transpor
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CHAPTER 7 World War II Developments
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wOrld war ii 159 blow, and the thir
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wOrld war ii L-4 from the 29th Infa
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wOrld war ii 163 authorized six 105
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wOrld war ii Airborne troops loadin
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wOrld war ii 167 artillery battalio
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wOrld war ii Table 16—Principal A
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wOrld war ii Table 17—Nondivision
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wOrld war ii Destroyer Training Cen
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Firing 4.5-inch rockets in the Hür
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wOrld war ii 177 of division artil
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wOrld war ii 179 the for mer was pr
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wOrld war ii 15th Field Artillery O
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wOrld war ii as well, passed missio
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wOrld war ii 185 photographs), and
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wOrld war ii 187 After nearly six y
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CHAPTER 9 The Nuclear Arena The Kor
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The nUclear arena 211 time that rad
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The nUclear arena Honest John rocke
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The nUclear arena Corporal missile
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The nUclear arena 217 and firepower
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The nUclear arena 219 In light of n
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The nUclear arena 221 the missile c
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The nUclear arena Lacrosse missile
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The nUclear arena 225 cost over $10
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The nUclear arena his proposal the
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The nUclear arena Little John rocke
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The nUclear arena 231 fire it withi
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The nUclear arena 233 for rapid che
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The nUclear arena Lance missile 235
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The nUclear arena 237 By the end of
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The nUclear arena 239 In the late 1
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Table 23—Field Artillery Rockets
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CHAPTER 10 The Road to Flexible Res
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 245 a
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Table 24—Comparison of Divisional
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 249 p
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse Chart
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse Chart
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Chart 4—Reorganization of Regimen
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse 257 d
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse HHB C
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse reorg
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse M18 f
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The rOad TO fleXiBle resPOnse UH-1D
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CHAPTER 11 Vietnam During the 1950s
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vieTnam Table 25—Field Artillery
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vieTnam CH-54 Tarhe lifting a 155-m
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vieTnam 8-inch howitzer from Batter
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vieTnam 275 At each maneuver comman
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CH-47 Chinook transporting the M102
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vieTnam 279 ployed to Vietnam in la
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vieTnam 281 arose. A field artiller
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vieTnam ments were authorized, usin
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Table 26—Field Artillery Reductio
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Appendix A—Chiefs of Field Artill
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aPPendiX Maj. Gen. John A. Dubia 15
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Field ArTillery - US Army Center Of Military History

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